Improvement in modes of attaching scythes to snaths



' w. T. CLEMENT. Attaching S cythes to "Snaths.

No. 18,326. Patented 0m. 6, 1857.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM T. CLEMENT, OF SHELBUBNE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT lN MODES OF ATTACHING SCYTHES TO SNATHS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,326, dated October-6, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. CLEMENT, of Shelbnrne Falls, in the county of Franklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Attaching Scythes to Snaths; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal section of the butt of a snath, my improvement being applied to it and also bisected. 00 .00, Fig. 2, indicate the plane of section. Fig.2 is an external view of the same, the loop being bisected, as indicated by thelineyy, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is atransverse section of the same, taken in the line 2 2, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

My invention consistsin securing the tang or shank of the scythe to an adjustable plate by means of a loop and screw, the plate being pivoted to the butt of the snath, and the several parts so arranged, as will be hereinafter described, that the scythe may be not only firmly secured to the snath, but also adjusted or set at varying angles with it, as circumstances may require.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, 1 will proceed to describe it.

A represents the butt of a snath, which is chamfered at one side, and has a metallic ferrule, B, fitted on its end in the usual way.

In the ferrule and snath a loop, 0, is fitted. The form of this loop is distinctly shown in Fig. 3. Its inner side or end, a, it will be seen, approaches a V form, and a socket, b, is made at the angle of the inner side, said socket havin g an internal screw-thread, in which a screw, 0, passes. The screw 0 passes through a metallic tube, 61, which is fitted in the snath A, and the outer end of the screw has a head, 0, formed on it. The loop 0 is fitted in a recess,

made in the snath. This recess is shown clearly in Fig. 3.

To the chamfered side of the snath a metallic plate, D, is attached by a pivot or screw, 9, the plate being allowed to work freely on said pivot. The outer end of the plate D extends through the eye or loop 0, and a notch or recess, h, is made in each side of the plate, near its outer end, so as to allow a sufficientlength or degree of vibration within the loop or eye. The inner end of the plate D has a hole, i, made through it, and a segment or curved recess,j, is made in the snath directly in line with the hole 1' in the plate. The outer end of the plate D is slotted longitudinally, as shown at K.

E represents the tang or shank of a scythe. The tangisof the usual form,,having a claw, t, at its end. The scythe is secured to the snath by placing the tang through the loop 0, the tang being against the plate D, and its claw if placed in the hole 41, the claw passing into the curved recess j. The plate D is then turned on its pivot, or adjusted so that the scythe will be brought to the proper relative position with the snath, and the loop (I is then, by turning the screw 0, clamped firmly against the tang E near its junction with the scythe. The scythe is thereby firmly secured to the snath.

Iwould remark that the plate D may be secured .to the snath by the ordinary heel-ring and key. Other devices may also be employed; but the loop and screw herein described is decidedly superior to any mode hitherto devised for the purpose.

I am aware that a loop has been previously used for securing the tang to the snath; but the loop was provided with a shank, which passed entirely through the snath, and had a nut on its end, said nut being fitted on a screw. formed on the end of the shank. The objection to this mode of adjusting the loop isthat the end of the shank projects beyond the butt of the snath and catches the grass, and is a source of great annoyance to the operator.

By my arrangement it will be seen that the head 6 only projects beyond the snath, the end of the screw working through the socket b, so that the loop 0 may be drawn in or forced out from its recess f without having any projection at the side of the butt or snath, except the head 6. In my improvement the loop may be made of malleable cast-iron, which reduces the cost very materially. In my improvement there is no danger of any of the parts being lost. No nuts are required to be removed or unscrewed in order to adjust the scythe. The slot k in the plate D allows of the ready insertion of the tangE through the loop 0, the claw 100p (J, and screw 0, when arranged substantpassing in said slot as the tang is passed tially as described, for the purpose specified. within the loop.

Having thus described my invention, what I WILLIAM CLEMENT claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Witnesses: Patent, is WM. S; HEATH,

. The combination of the adjustable plate I), FREDERIc A. BULL. 

